Henning Fritz

German handball goalkeeper Henning Fritz placed fifth with his team at the Sydney Olympics in 2004 and won the silver medal four years later at Athens. At Beijing in 2008, the team placed a disappointing ninth. He was also a substitute at the 1996 Atlanta Games. Fritz won 235 international caps and was considered one of the world’s best goalkeepers ever. He was goalkeeper of the tournament at the World Championships in 2003 and 2007, and also at both the European Championships and Olympics in 2004. He was named World and German Handball Player of the Year in 2004. With the German national team, Fritz became Supercup Winner in 1998. He was runner-up in European Championship in 2002, and at the Worlds the following year. He won the Europeans in 2004, however, and the Worlds in 2007.

At club level, Fritz played with SC Magdeburg (1988-2001), THW Kiel (2001-07), Rhein-Necker Löwen (2007-12) and eventually one season with SG Flensburg-Handewitt (2021). He helped Magdeburg win the EHF Cup in 1999 and 2001, the German Championship, also in 2001, the German Cup in 1996, and the German Supercup in 1996. With Kiel he won the Champions League in 2007, the EHF Cups in 2002 and 2004, the German Championship in 2002 and 2005-07, the German Cup in 2007, and the German Supercup in 2005.

After ending his active career in 2012, Fritz turned to coaching with SG Leutershausen and played a final season as a goalkeeper in 2021 with Flensburg-Handewitt. He was awarded the Silver Bay Leaf, Germany’s highest sports award.